The race to 20 wins is off and running for Carolina Basketball.
By dive-bombing 10 spots in the top 20 – from No. 7 to 17 – after one-sided losses to Ohio State and Virginia, the Tar Heels have become poster children for a hoops season that is already getting trashed by critics and fans who say it is a “down year” for the college game.
Texas Tech knocked off unbeaten and top-ranked Louisville Tuesday night, as the Cardinals became the fourth No. 1 team to lose to unranked opponents after Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke. But Carolina’s sudden and surprise plummet has become the talk of the town across the nation.
It is fairly simple, despite what disbelieving fans and overly optimistic media are saying. The excitement over Cole Anthony arriving to replace Coby White overshadowed the obvious truth. The four starters and top five scorers lost to graduation and the NBA has resulted in what may be the weakest roster in Roy Williams’ 31 years of coaching college basketball.
The proof is in the numbers for what has been for decades one of the highest-scoring programs in the nation. In the last week, the Tar Heels have failed to reach 50 points in consecutive games for the first time in Ol’ Roy’s 15 seasons at Kansas and 16-plus at UNC. Even worse, Carolina has still not scored 80 points in its first nine games, a streak that dates back to the no shot clock and all-white era of the 1950s.
Ironically, this may be the best possible season for it to happen. The ACC has gone from the primo conference, top to bottom, to one that will be lucky to get six teams in the NCAA tournament. Louisville and Duke look like the only locks right now, as the rest of the ACC beat each other up in the 20-game schedule. Look at the standings, where only FSU, Pitt, N.C. State and Notre Dame have reached seven wins after Louisville, Duke and UVa.
Seriously, who besides those three are assured of reaching the sacred 20-victory line for an NCAA bid. Generally, the formula for that is to notch 10 wins before the full ACC schedule starts in January. Can UNC get close? At 6-3 currently, maybe by beating Wofford Sunday in Carmichael, UCLA in Las Vegas the following Saturday and Yale on December 30 back in Chapel Hill.
Then, it will literally be dog eat dog against teams just waiting to get a piece of the poor-shooting Tar Heels. Clemson comes in here with its forever 0-for record on January 11. The Tigers are also down this year, so that streak may remain intact, as Carolina tries to go a shocking 10-10 in the ACC.
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O ye, of little faith.